12-02-12 - Fit by 40 Week 17

Sunday, December 02, 2012

Weight - 283 lbs - change of 13 lbs (57 lbs total)
Stomach - 50" - change of 1"
Waist - 45 inches - no change, though I am fitting in smaller sized pants.
Thigh - 28.5 inches - change of +1.5" - I can't explain if this is in relation to me having measured wrong in the past, or potential muscle increase as a result of the resistance training I am doing.
Arm - 15.5 inches - change of .5"
Neck - 17 inches - change of +.5" - I think this was due to a bad job measuring last time.

I am continuing to add to my exercise regiment as I go along. I am still doing the circuit training room (where I have been able to add to the overall weight I am pressing on each circuit) I have bumped my elliptical training to 45 minutes cross country routine on the elliptical on days where I am doing the circuit and 45 minutes on the cross ramp elliptical doing interval training on other days. I have also successfully completed Week 1 of 7 weeks to 100 pushups.

I made it through Thanksgiving, and actually lost some weight as well. In addition to eating sensible portions (yet not denying myself), and walking a brisk 3 miles between meals on Thanksgiving, I hiked 6.46 miles the day after Thanksgiving. A hike that I plan of redoing today.

My portion control is still working well, although I have been abnormally hungry the last few days. I am still swearing by green tea and chocolate milk. I have also changed my ice cream fix from ice cream sandwiches to frozen Greek yogurt bars or hand dipped frozen yogurt. I am not missing ice cream near as much as I had thought I would, and the frozen yogurt keeps me satisfied.

Right after last month's post, I was challenged to do a Spartan Sprint on May 18, 13, right outside Austin , TX. I came up with a million excuses on why I wouldn't be ready, but not one good reason. With that, I agreed to start getting in shape for it. I credit that with the overall increase in my training regiment.

Since that time we have altered our plans just a little. We found a Warrior Dash (a rough equivalent) the weekend before the Spartan we had planned. It is about 4.5 hours away, instead of the 11 of the Spartan. So a Warrior Dash will be my entry into the world of trail running. I plan on doing a 5k at the local college a month before that, in prep, and plan on starting to training for the various Spartan Races after completion of the Warrior Dash.

I am pushing to be close to 270 on my next weight in. This will be my overall new halfway point. Judging by recent Body Fat Calculations, this would put me at roughly 10 % body fat.
I have seen measures that say I am already around 185 (my current goal) in lean muscle mass. At 270 I feel that I will be at a weight where I can start running again without tearing up my shins, knees and lower back. I plan on starting off on a treadmill. One, for lower impact and two, because it is going to be incredibly cold outside in January. I have read that by increasing the incline to around 3, I can better simulate outside conditions. With that in mind, I do not dilute myself into thinking that it fully matches the resistance of outside running. Around March I plan on moving to outside (if not sooner) in prep for the 5k and Warrior Dash.